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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-28-2013 03:44 AM

mooncon

I have an eheim jager ive had for 4 or 5 years hands down the best ive ever owned.heaters have to be the #2 cause of fish deaths the #1 cause is aquarium owner mistakes.Ive killed more fish doing stupid things without thinking than with bad heaters.

01-28-2013 03:16 AM

brainwavepc.com

I use two 250w in my 125s to prevent stuff like this, one alone on all the time takes days to heat the tank. I've tested it. I had two of the recalled stealths, oddly enough one stopped coming on one week, the next the other wouldn't go off. tank temps barely moved. I got 47$ each as a check from the recall and bought eheim Jagers. they are great.

01-28-2013 02:14 AM

seandelevan

When I bought a used tank off Craigslist I naturally got all the equipment, one being a 300w tetra heater. It looked pretty old but I tested it. Damn thing heated my 75 from 69 to 85 in 30 minutes and I had it on the lowest possible setting! It went to the garbage.

01-28-2013 01:18 AM

suprdave

Thanks Brian,

I am using a smaller heater since I keep my ambient temp in the house at 76 anyway

Just a follow up, Tetra offered to send me a new heater - I turned them down, telling them that I am uncomfortable utilizing their heating products any further.

I also asked them instead to put a safety system in their heaters in the future to prevent them from failing "on".

01-12-2013 06:10 PM

BriDroid

Sorry to hear about your heater trouble.

I was using a 250W Marineland Visi-Therm in my 72. One night I kept hearing a buzzing sound. My tank is in my bedroom and my wife heard it too. As I was laying there, I could see the heater LED come on and the buzzing sound would start, then a few seconds later it would go off and the buzzing would stop. Turned on my lamp and when the heater would come on, the buzzing would start, and all the fish would freak! I unplugged the heater (glad I did) and removed it from the tank... The glass was FULL of water, I was shocking my fish. Glad I didn't reach in the tank, or it would have shocked me!

The only spare heater that I had was a 100W Aqueon Pro, so I put it in there thinking I would add a second 100W down the road. I liked the idea of having two smaller heaters to not cook my fish if one died.

Well, months later, I'm still only running the single 100W and it's working great! Granted it does take a long time to raise the temperature, but it will keep the water steady. I also get the piece of mind that if it were to stick on, I would notice it way before it got to hot for the fish.

I'm now a firm believer that you can use a smaller heater than the suggested heater size from the MFGs.

Just something to chew on?

Brian

01-12-2013 05:51 PM

In.a.Box

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkblade48

Is that a Marineland Stealth heater? I thought there was a recall on them.

Yes thats a stealth. Recall was only for the newer model.

01-12-2013 05:22 AM

Darkblade48

Quote:

Originally Posted by In.a.Box

Marineland heater got it since it first came out.
Just crack couple weeks back.

I like the aqueon heater.

Is that a Marineland Stealth heater? I thought there was a recall on them.

01-12-2013 04:18 AM

In.a.Box

Marineland heater got it since it first came out.
Just crack couple weeks back.

I like the aqueon heater.

01-12-2013 01:14 AM

AirstoND

I had the same one that came with the tank kit. Same thing happened to me and I noticed a small crack. (remove the rubber and examine it carefully).

I think that brown stuff could be a crack with algea/diatom growing out of it.

01-12-2013 01:05 AM

creekbottom

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingHellFish

Oh like one those adjustable heaters? I wonder if Tetra makes a model?

No, it's a seperate piece of equipment that you plug your heater into. It has a seperate temp probe that you put in the tank. If your heater sticks on, the controller senses the rising temp past whatever you set it at and it cuts the power to the heater.

Maybe this isn't the ideal situation for everyone, but here's how I do it. NO HEATERS! My house is always 72-74 degrees, so consequently all my tanks (probably way too many, but I'm working to get rid of the "probably" part) stay at 72-74 degrees.

01-12-2013 12:36 AM

FlyingHellFish

Quote:

Originally Posted by creekbottom

Use a temp controller!

My thoughts

Oh like one those adjustable heaters? I wonder if Tetra makes a model?

01-12-2013 12:36 AM

GraphicGr8s

Window Shaker. An air conditioning unit designed to be installed in a window. Nicknamed "window shaker"

01-12-2013 12:34 AM

FlyingHellFish

Quote:

Originally Posted by GraphicGr8s

Yep. First one I ever bought. Not made anymore.

On longevity. I had a Vernado AC window shaker when I first got married. It was in my father's room before I got it. He got it from my grandparents. Only thing I ever changed was a start relay. Lasted until my father in law tossed it. Company is now owned by AO Smith. Stuff isn't as good today that's for sure.

Yeah, I notice on the older stuff they don't really say anything about 1 year warranty. And what is a AC Window shaker? For burglars, stalkers? EDIT: Ooh it's an AC machine.

01-12-2013 12:31 AM

talontsiawd

Those Tetra heaters should be pulled off the market. I had two, one luckily failed by just shutting off, not turning back on. The other, did the exact same, heated my tank to around 97 degrees. Luckily I had just moved my fish but all my plants died. I was out of town too, so it may have been up to 7 days.

The worst part is, I have heard so many people on this board say the same thing. Many like me, tried more than once and had it happen 2-3x.

It's like having a dog bone filled with poison. It's super cruel but I guess since it's just fish, nobody cares. We all buy them for the same reason, they are super compact for wattage and then they fail.

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